The department of general pedagogy and pedagogy of higher school

The Department of General Pedagogy and Pedagogy of Higher School is the leading department at Kharkiv H. S. Skovoroda National Pedagogical University. Doctor of Pedagogical Science, Professor Svitlana Zolotukhina is the head of the department. The staff of the department consists of nine Doctors of Pedagogical Science, seven Doctors of Philosophy (PhD) and one senior lecturer. The support staff consists of three senior assistants.

The department has a theme of scientific research (“Improving of Pedagogical Process Efficiency at Secondary and Higher Educational Establishments”). The aim is to work out the theoretical basis of pedagogical process at secondary and higher educational establishments and the directions of implementation of the theoretical basis.

The main direction of work of the department is implementation of educational activity which is carried out for all students of the university through teaching such subjects as Pedagogy, The Basics of Pedagogical Mastery, The Issues of Modern Didactics, Pedagogy of Higher School, Pedagogical Management, Culture of Pedagogical Research, The Basics of Educational Innovations, Methodology of Pedagogical Research, Humanization of Management in the System of Education, Theoretical Basics of Didactic Researches, Theory and Methods of Education, Monitoring of Effectiveness of Education, Statistic Methods in Pedagogical Research.

The educational-methodic work of the department is one of the components of organization of educational process. The members of the department work at drawing up work plans for the main subjects and the improvement of these plans according to European norms and standards. Other important aspects of the educational-methodic work are clarification of questions and tasks for qualification and state exams in Pedagogy, preparation of tests for Pedagogy, clarification of the program of entrance exams for post-graduate students to get PhD in speciality 011 – educational pedagogical sciences, conducting the methodic seminars for lecturers, drawing up and approval of the program of preparation for the contests of pedagogical mastery and programs of special seminars.

Much attention of all the members of the department is paid to organizational-methodic work which includes conducting the thematic meetings of the department, discussion of materials of post-graduate and doctoral students’ dissertations, attestation of doctoral and post-graduate students, approval of themes of post-graduate and doctoral students’ dissertations, scientific internship of professor-teaching staff of the department, giving and discussion of public lectures and seminars by the staff of the department, giving reports about scientific work with students, vocational guidance work by the staff of the department, organization of students’ pedagogical practice, preparation and discussion of scientific talks of the members of the department, preparation and holding the scientific-practical conferences of professor-teaching staff and post-graduate students of the department, student scientific conference and Olympiad on Pedagogy.

Scientific and research work is another important aspect of the activity of the department. This direction of the work includes training of scientific and pedagogical staff, editing monographs and scientific journals (“Pedagogy and Psychology”, “Theory and Methods of Training and Education”, “Humanization of Educational Process”, “Pedagogy, Psychology and Medical-Biological Problems of Physical Education and Sport”, “Acmeology in Ukraine: theory and practice”, “Social Work in Ukraine – Theory and Practice”), taking part in international, Ukrainian and regional scientific-practical conferences, management of students, post-graduate students and doctoral students’ research work, professors’ participation in work of the specialized scientific councils (Prof. Svitlana Zolotukhina, Prof. Olena Popova, Prof. Liudmyla Zelenska, Prof. Tetiana Rogova, Prof. Iryna Trubavina).

The staff of the department work hard at preparation and publication of monographs, textbooks, tutorials, etc. The most important scientific works are: “Pedagogy”, “Theoretical Basis of Education and Training”, “Lectures in Pedagogy of Higher School”, “Reader in Pedagogy of Higher School”, “Theory of Education”, “Didactics”, “Pedagogy of Higher School in Tables and Schemes”, “Management in Modern System of Education”, “Social-Pedagogical work with Families – Theory and Methods”, “Professional-Pedagogical Competence of Lecturer of Higher Educational Establishment: Historical-Pedagogical Aspect”, “The Problems of Childhood in Ukrainian Pedagogy in the 20^th century: Theory and Practice”, “Development of Teacher’s Professional Status: Theory and History”, collection of test tasks for monitoring and evaluation of educational assessments of students for master’s degree in Pedagogy.

As a result of active work of the Department of General Pedagogy and Pedagogy of Higher School, it was awarded the honorary title ‘The Best Department in Scientific-Research Work’ in 2003, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012.